The Dangerous Act of Worship

I just finished reading a book called The Dangerous Act of Worship by Mark Labberton.

Wow, where do I even begin? For someone who has a hard time being articulate, it's even harder for me to put into words all that this book encompasses. Labberton really does a fine job when it comes to explaining worship and justice, and calling Christians to action.

"Safe" Worship
Worship is dangerous, according to Labberton. And after reading his book, I definitely agree. If you're like me, and like most people on this earth, you treasure your material possessions. We, as humans, feel the need for control over many things. We like to hold on to what we have. We don't really like change. We need to feel secure. Because of this, many of us have fallen into the temptation of "safe" worship, which isn't really what God wants. Safe worship is turned toward us, not God. In safe worship, we have control of everything. We feel secure and complacent. This complacency becomes a major problem, as we fail to look towards our neighbors and make an effort to help them and to do justice.

Reading about this made me sad because I think a lot of us, including myself, get caught up in "safe" worship. We get caught up in everything BUT God.

Another term for "safe" worship is false worship. False worship. That sounds scary. False worship offends God, and I think a lot of us do that without even realizing it. We make worship about ourselves. We only do what we want to do. We listen to sermons and nod our heads, but we don't take action.

God must be frustrated.

Dangerous Worship
Dangerous worship - true worship - realigns everything and puts our focus back on God. True worship throws everything we have control over into disorder. The funny thing is, this "disorder" is actually true order. To engage in dangerous worship is to let go of control, and give it to God, who is the ultimate power. When we allow ourselves to worship in spirit and in truth, our lives are to be transformed. When our lives are transformed, the world is transformed. Our lives are to be an outpouring of love and justice to the rest of the world.

Imagination
Dangerous worship stretches our imagination. It allows us to see a glimpse into God's imagination, and His plans for this world. When we confine ourselves to
"safe" worship, our imagination is limited. It's limited to what we can do for ourselves. Maybe, if we're lucky, it's limited to what we can do for the people in our neighborhood. However, when we realize that we live in God's heart, and that everyone is our "neighbor", we start to see what God wants us to do for the world. This includes people living next door, people in Africa with AIDS, people in Mexico, people affected by the China earthquake - or not. It includes every single person. We are called to do justice. To love mercy. To walk humbly with our God. (Micah 6:8).

After reading this book, I realized that I haven't been doing enough. (Actually, I probably knew that before I even read this book. Reading this book just made my inaction something that couldn't be ignored.) Even in my prayers, I sometimes get too tired and "forget" to pray for those who are affected by the China earthquake, the children in Africa who are night commuters, and endless more.

I really want to do more. I want to help the poor and the oppressed so badly. God has given me so much, but it's not because I deserve it. The only reason why any of us have a lot, if we do, is because God wants us to share our wealth with others. God blesses us so that we may bless others. He doesn't bless us so we can just receive all His blessings, sit and watch the news, and do nothing.

Writing all this down right now is easy for me. It's nighttime. It's quiet. There isn't really anything to distract me. However, in the bustle of the day...with all the distractions and millions of things that we "need" to do, it's a lot harder to keep this fire to help others burning. Everything is coming at me in different directions that it's so easy to let this fire become a tiny flame. It won't be long until the flame gets snuffed out.

In the light of the day, it's easy to forget where we live...where our true residence is. But we don't live in this world. We live in God's heart - a heart that is so big that it can fit every single person in the world. With that said, we are residents of God's heart...and citizens of this "country". That's our true identity. Our wordly occupation might be being a student, a nurse, or a lawyer. But our real occupation is to love others and to do justice. We must not forget that.

To truly worship God is to lay down our lives as we think they should be, and allow God to transform us. God doesn't just do a little tweaking here and there. If we allow Him, He'll really transform us in the greatest way possible. But are we really willing to do so? Are we willing to give up our comforts and our security? Are we ready to stop being complacent? And ready to actually start worshipping, loving, and making sure to do justice with all the risks that are involved?